A team of archaeologists have discovered a secret chamber decorated with detailed frescoes during restoration work at Emperor Nero’s Domus Aurea or Golden Palace constructed two millennia ago. The team came across an opening leading to a room covered with depictions of mythical creatures including centaurs and the god Pan, officials from the Colosseum archeological park, supervising the work, told AFP on Friday. The archaeologists have dubbed the chamber, which will require excavation with much of it buried and just its vault currently visible, Sala della Sfinge, or the Room of the Sphinx and say it is a significant discovery. The find offers a tantalising glimpse into “the atmosphere of the 60s of the first Century AD in Rome,” the Colosseum officials said, adding that what could be seen of the vault was “very visible and fairly well preserved.” Set against a white background can be seen “red-edged squares finessed with yellow-ochre lines and golden bands punctuated by a

The remains of the worst known Mediterranean migrant shipwreck, in which up to 900 people died, will be exhibited at the prestigious Venice Biennale art fair this week. The blue and red fishing boat was carrying almost 1,000 migrants when it struck a Portuguese cargo ship that was coming to its aid off the coast of Libya during the night of April 18-19, 2015. The boat sank quickly as the cargo ship’s horrified crew raced to save 28 people. Swiss artist Christoph Buchel obtained permission from Italian authorities and a group that represents the victims to transport the hull to Venice as part of a project called “Barca Nostra” (Our Boat). It will be shown in a shipyard by itself, without any explanation. “It is a quiet site, sheltered from noise, an invitation to silence and meditation,” said Paolo Baratta, the head of the Venice Biennale which opens on Saturday.

The generous collaboration of Friends of Florence and American Friends of the Prado Museum, which made matching contributions to reach a total of €150,000 euros, with the Prado Museum has facilitated the restoration of The Annunciation and other works not held at the Prado Museum and to be included in the major exhibition opening on May 28th: Fra Angelico and the Rise of the Florentine Renaissance. The extensive exhibit, with almost 80 pieces, is curated by Carl Brandon Strehlke, curator emeritus at the Philadelphia Museum of Art. The centerpiece of the exhibition, The Annunciation, was painted by Fra Angelico in the mid-1420s, and is considered the first Florentine altarpiece in the Renaissance style, using perspective to organize space and forsaking Gothic archways in favor of more rectangular shapes, in line with the aesthetic implemented by the architect Brunelleschi in his innovative approach to the churches of San Lor

The internationally well-known and venerated painting Girl Reading a Letter at an Open Window by Johannes Vermeer can now, more than two and a half centuries on, be enjoyed looking just as it did when it left the artist’s studio. Previous x-ray examinations indicated that a picture of a naked Cupid in the painting had been overpainted. Today, new laboratory tests have conclusively determined that the overpainting was not by Vermeer’s hand. On this basis, the Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister decided in the course of the current restoration of the work to remove the overpaint. To allow the public to participate in the process of restoration, the Girl Reading a Letter will be presented in its current intermediate state at the Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister in the Semperbau from 8 May to 16 June 2019. Johannes Vermeer’s (1632–1675) Girl Reading a Letter at an Open Window (ca. 1657/59) has long counted among the principal work